Leo Cullen praises Joe Schmidt for victory – Rugby News Update
Leo Cullen, the 34-year-old Leinster lock has credited the victory in the Heineken Cup final against Ulster to their head coach, Joe Schmidt, who took over as a full time coach in the 2010/2011 season.
Cullen who has played for Ireland 32 times, believes that Schmidt’s ‘relentless pursuit of excellence’ is the reason behind the team’s success and they can add another trophy come next weekend, when they play Ospreys in the final of the RaboDirect PRO12
league. This will be the first time since 2004 that a European team will secure a domestic double, if they win.
"Joe brings a relentless pursuit of excellence," Cullen said. "He demands high standards, and it is great for the players. All the coaching staff work so hard with this squad.”
Schmidt is hailed as one of the finest coaches in rugby. He is a former school headmaster, and coached the New Zealand Schools rugby team. Before taking over at Leinster, he was an assistant coach to Vern Cotter at Clermont Auvergne in France. In his time
there, the team won their first ever Top 14 title.
However, he was quick to praise the team for their victory, commenting on their camaraderie and closeness. He said, "It is an achievement for this group of men. They get on so well together, they are a very tight-knit unit and they are such a coachable group.
They really want to try to be the best they can be, and they work really hard to do that. The leadership is superb across the board.”
Cullen, who started his career with Leinster, before a stint with the Leicester Tigers, further praised the coach by saying that he created a winning mentality in the team and made them believe that they could achieve greatness. It is Leinster’s third Heineken
Cup victory in four years, and they claimed back-to-back titles after defeating Ulster.
Their margin of victory was the biggest ever in a final, with the most number of tries (5) and the most points.
Leinster players can bask in their glory but they have a final in Dublin next weekend and Schmidt will surely be focusing on that in the days ahead.
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